


A Moment's Rest

by SailorSol



Series: The Ranger's Rest [3]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Power Rangers in Space
Genre: Gen, Siblings, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-08
Updated: 2012-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-20 15:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/586961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karone stops in Ranger's Rest for a moment while trapped in the Lost Galaxy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment's Rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wildforce71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/gifts).



> As Hagar mentioned in her fic [Alone Together](http://archiveofourown.org/works/567563), there was a bet between her, wildforce71, and me. Clearly, I'm much slower than her and wildforce71 in responding (even though I technically won, despite Hagar trying to change the rules after the fact :-P). Better late than never, right?
> 
> Hearts and confetti to both Hagar and wildforce71!

Maybe Karone shouldn't have been sneaking off from her team at a time like this; she was the only one of them with any magical experience, and Kai had gotten them into a giant magical mess with the Galaxy Book. She should have been helping to find a spell to get them out of the Lost Galaxy, but she couldn't stop worrying about her brother. He'd spent eleven years of his life searching for her once; she didn't want him going through that again. She wished she had some way of letting him know that she was okay, that she would find her way back to him this time.

The bar she'd found reminded her of the place Andros and his team used to hang out--games along one wall, a pool table, booths and tables and people who weren't busy trying to kill or swindle one another. There was something a little off about the people, most of them around her age, but Karone couldn't quite put her finger on it.

There was a cloaked figure sitting alone at the bar; everyone else seemed to be in groups, so Karone made her way across the room to sit near him, leaving an empty stool between them. The bartender--an overweight man in his early 40s wearing a brightly patterned shirt--came and placed a drink in front of her.

"I didn't order this," she said, eyeing the frothy pink drink warily.

"Strawberry milkshake, on the house," he replied.

Leo liked milkshakes, though Karone had never tried one. She took a cautious sip--it was cold, and sweet, and creamy. "Not bad," she told the barkeep. He winked at her and wandered off to help another customer.

"You really shouldn't accept food from strangers," the cloaked figure said. His voice sounded familiar, but like he was trying to disguise it so as not to be recognized.

Of course, the thought had occurred to her. But they were on Terra Venture, and she didn't think Captain Mutiny would send someone to a place like this on the off chance of finding a Ranger to poison. "He works here, so he would have served my drink anyway," she pointed out. She took another sip of her milkshake.

The man snorted softly. "It's that sort of attitude that will get you killed."

Karone huffed. "I'd like to think I'm harder to kill than that. And there comes a point in life where you have to stop thinking everyone is out to get you, you know."

"And if everyone is actually out to get me?" the man asked in return. There wasn't any humor in his question, just tired acceptance. She considered his question with the same amount of levity that he had posited it.

"You learn to trust others to watch your back," she replied slowly; she was still trying to figure this out for herself. "Friends, teammates, people with the same goals as you."

He hunched his shoulders in, curling around the drink he hadn't touched.

“Oh,” she said. “You don’t have anyone, do you?”

“Of course I do,” he snapped in return, but he sounded too defensive for that to be the truth. “They’re expecting me back by sunset.”

So he didn’t want her to think he had no one waiting for his return. Interesting. “I certainly won’t keep you from making it back in time,” she told him. “I should really get back myself,” she added, looking down at her milkshake. It was starting to melt.

“You have people waiting for you?” he asked. The way he asked it made him sound young, a sense of yearning in his voice.

She smiled, thinking of the other Rangers back in their rooms, searching for a way to get home. That, of course, made her think of Andros again. Her smile faded. “I’m worried some of them might be waiting for a long time. I just wish I had some way of letting my brother know I was safe. I think sometimes he worries about me too much.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to worry too much,” the man replied.

Her lips twitched. “Now you sound like him.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” she said. “But take my advice for him and don’t worry yourself to death. It doesn’t help anyone, least of all the people who love you.”

“Hm,” he said, standing up. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

He didn’t say anything else before heading for the door. Karone watched him leave, hoping he would find some people to trust soon. In the meantime, she had a spell to reverse and people relying on her to help.


End file.
